


we'll laugh until our ribs get tough

by ditty (Triple_A), karasgotagun (jazzmckay)



Series: The Kids Are Alright [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Good Friend Tina Chen, Happy Ending, Homophobia, LGBTQ Themes, Pride, Teenage Dorks, Teenage Rebellion, Teenagers, Tina Chen & Gavin Reed Friendship, Trans Gavin Reed, Trans Tina Chen, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:01:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25034371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triple_A/pseuds/ditty, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jazzmckay/pseuds/karasgotagun
Summary: It’s not like either of them didn’t know what pride events were. And it wasn’t like either of them thought they were the only people like themselves in the world.It was just...not something they put any thought to. For a long time. Up until they turned sixteen.
Relationships: Tina Chen & Gavin Reed
Series: The Kids Are Alright [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2085351
Comments: 7
Kudos: 26
Collections: New ERA Discord: Reverse Big Bang





	we'll laugh until our ribs get tough

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Ribs by Lorde
> 
> /cracks knuckles/ time to wordspew about my Favorite Headcanon Kids
> 
> this was for the reverse big bang hosted by the new era discord server! i wrote this based on karasgotagun's absolutely kick-ass art

It’s not like either of them didn’t _know_ what pride events were. And it wasn’t like either of them thought they were the only people like themselves in the world.

It was just...not something they put any thought to. For a long time. Up until they turned sixteen.

Tina found out about the fair first, had spied the poster for it while she was at the library. It was an eight-by-eleven inch poster in the far corner of the bulletin, standing out with a bright rainbow beneath the knitting club and besides the missing bike notice. Big bolded letters in a blocky script reads: PRIDE FAIR. SATURDAY, 9AM to 5PM. Beneath it is a map of the location.

She glances around quickly, ensures no one is watching; and whips out her phone and snaps an image, as discreetly as she can. Texts it to Gavin, with a single ‘?’ to accompany it.

A few minutes later, as she’s helping her mom carry books to the car, she feels her phone buzz in her pocket, with Gavin’s reply. A single ‘!’ in italics.

She grins.

* * *

Chat: Crime Lads Electric Boogaloo 

Contacts: tinaTime, mothmanromancer

_> did u ask ur mom? can she drive us_

(8:58 pm)

**no she said its too dangerous :( <**

(8:59 pm)

_> dang :(_

_ >wht if we took the train? tickets r cheap for a full day pass _

(9:00 pm)

**if we’re taking the train we have to leave befre 8. if i leave after my dad wakes up im in deep shit <**

(9:00 pm)

_> man fuck ur dad. fr tho_

_ >home of phobe nasty man _

(9:00 pm)

**yea he sucks lol <**

**but he wont care where i am as long as im not in the house <**

(9:01 pm)

_> what abt ur mom?_

(9:01 pm)

**she wont mind as long as im back before dark <**

(9:02 pm)

_> huh neat_

_ >ill need a good excuse for my parents to leave the house before 8 _

(9:02 pm)

**y? what r u goin to be doin at 7 in the am? <**

(9:02 pm)

_> according to them? teen Crimes, apparently_

_ >seriously tho _

_ >what do i tell them i have No ideas _

(9:03 pm)

**hmmmm <**

**tell them ur gonna be doin nerd stuff <**

(9:03 pm)

_> gavin PLEASE be specific_

(9:03 pm)

**fine fine <**

**u can tell them ur going to hang out w eli <**

(9:04 pm)

_> he’d cover for me?_

(9:04 pm)

**yea. he owes me a favor lol <**

(9:04 pm)

_>???_

(9:04 pm)

**:) <**

****(9:04 pm)

_>?!?!?!?!?_

(9:04 pm)

**relx lol its not bad <**

**i let him have my broken wii controller to tinker with <**

**and also my dad’s radio <**

(9:05 pm)

_> o nice lol_

_ >stonks _

(9:05 pm)

**stonks <**

**Anyways u can tell ur parents ure doing loser stuff with eli <**

**School project or smth <**

**Do they kno eli graduated <**

(9:06 pm)

_> yea :/_

_ >his company was on the front news im p sure everyone in the region knows he graduated _

(9:06 pm)

**Ugh <**

**> :(<**

(9:06 pm)

_> ugh indeed_

_ >hmmm Ill tell them its a robotics club thing_

(9:08 pm)

**ur not in robotics <**

**also wait its summer break. y would they think ure still doing club stuff <**

(9:09 pm)

_> DAMMIT i rlly thought i did smth smart there for a moment smh my head_

_ >ok okok uhhh _

_ >Hm. _

(9:09 pm)

**tina <**

**teeny <**

**love of my life <**

**i Got it <**

(9:10 pm)

_>? oh?_

(9:10 pm)

**just say eli’s tutoring u for smth like chem or piano or something smart whatever <**

**or wait <**

**tell them u have to teach eli mandarin <**

**for his nerd company <**

(9:11 pm)

_> OH_

_ >gav _

_ >gavvy _

_ >u goddamn genius _

_ >ily_

(9:11 pm)

_ >brb i gotta go test this w the parents _

(9:12 pm)

**;) <**

(9:12 pm)

**did it work? <**

(9:15 pm)

_> oh babie we got this!!!!_

_ >we’re going to pride!!!! _

(9:18 pm)

**we’re going to pride!!!! <**

(9:18 pm)

_> WE’RE GOING TO PRIDE!!!!!!!!!!!_

(9:18 pm)

**YEEHAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 < **

(9:18 pm)

* * *

Saturday, 6 AM, and Gavin wakes up wide awake and anxious, an hour before his alarm.

No, not anxious. _Excited._

There’s a buzz of energy in his fingers as he tugs on his clothes, laid out the night before. Plain white t-shirt and cargo shorts, pilfered from his cousin Eli and just a little too loose, having to be cinched together by a belt. His school backpack, already unceremoniously emptied of any and all schoolwork and instead filled with water bottles, some sunscreen, a few fruit snacks.

He sneaks out the house quietly, sliding open the downstairs bathroom window and slipping out that way. The front door creaked too loudly to be trusted. He already sees Tina outside, waiting on the sidewalk with her own bag on her back.

“Ready?” She asks, and he grins. They’ve done some pretty rebellious stuff in the past, but this takes the cake.

“Ready.”

\--

They walk to the train station, because it’s so early and there’s hardly anyone on the streets, and it’s a nice morning. Gavin never pegged himself for a morning person, but here he was, enjoying the brightening sky and the cool air. Both of them are quiet for the whole way, because really, there’s nothing either of them need to say. It’s a comfortable silence.

By the time they buy their tickets and make it onto the train, he can hear a rapid beat of shoe against metal. Tina’s leg jitters, and when he looks at her questioning, she just shrugs.

“Are you nervous?” Gavin asks.

“No,” She says defensively, and her leg slows for a brief moment before picking up again. “Okay, a little.”

“I’m nervous too, you know.” He kicks lightly at her shin, and she kicks back. “It’s okay, so quit it. You’re gonna start an earthquake.”

She snorts. “I’m just. I don’t know. What if we get caught?”

“We won’t. It’s not like we’re gonna see anyone we know there, and Eli’s agreed to cover for you.”

“You don’t know that. What if your dad or my dad drives by the fair location and sees us. Or what if someone takes a picture of us and we end up on old people facebook, and they see us. Or what if-”

“Jesus, Teeny, come on.” He rolls his eyes; for as much as she was a willing enabler and encouraging influence for all their good (or bad) ideas, she worried incessantly sometimes. “It’s gonna be alright, right? I’m here, you’re here, we’re gonna have a good time and when we’re adults we’ll look back and go ‘Hey, I’m glad we did that.’”

“Or we’ll look back and go, ‘Wow, we were stupid.’”

“Aren’t we always?” He shrugs.

“Yeah, I guess.” The train jerks, and slows, and begins pulling into a stop at the next station; their station. “Wait, hold on. I wanna give you something before I forget.”

She reaches into her bag and pulls out a t-shirt. A black one, with big white block letters that spell LOVE, with a rainbow heart for the ‘O’. I ordered this online, and. Do you remember that one time I asked what your t-shirt size was and refused to give an explanation? Yeah.”

 _Cheesy,_ Gavin thinks. He loves it already. “Holy shit, Tina, You didn’t have to.”

“I know, but like. First pride thing, right? I figured we might as well have some gear.” She shrugs. “I got something for myself, too, check this shit out-”

And as he watches, she whips out a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses and snaps them on, the frames rainbow-striped. It’s gaudy. It’s pretty amazing. “Oh my god.”

“Sick, right?” She grins. Her leg stopped bouncing. He grins back.

“Absolutely.”

\--

They kill a little time before the fair, finding a little cafe with a bathroom they can use for Gavin to change into his new shirt. And then they just talk, sitting by the window and passing an iced coffee between them as the town really wakes up. People walk past them, and some of them wear rainbows like their own. A few of them have face makeup in riotous colors and designs. Gavin swears he sees someone walk by in full body paint.

As they start walking towards the location, they start seeing more people. And honestly? It’s _weird_. Surreal, but not in a bad way. For the first time Gavin doesn’t feel like he’s getting stared at or singled out in a crowd, and he can tell Tina feels the same way, because her shoulders relax when people don’t spare them a second glance.

The fair is structured to circle two blocks of the town, with the streets lined with small pop-up tents and trestle tables. A few people decked out in feather boas and light-up hats walk around with carts laden with flags, toy swords, and just about any imaginable wearable item in rainbow colors. They spy a pair of drag queens in full attire, an elderly couple with matching propeller hats, and a group of people singing and dancing on a stage, speakers pumping high-beat music. Someone in a spiked leather jacket, face pierced, hair mohawked, walks by with the smallest, most pastel colored dog Gavin had ever seen.

It’s nearly overwhelming. He doesn’t notice the tugging at his sleeve at first, until it devolves into a light pinch on his arm. Tina is looking at him through her glasses. “You alright? You’re spacing out.”

“I’m…” He blinks. “I’m...great. This is great. Are you kidding?” He waves his arms at their surroundings. “This is the coolest shit I’ve ever seen!”

“I know, right? Hey,” She tugs his sleeve again, and points to a particular booth at a street corner. A big wooden sign in front names it as a photo station. “You wanna go get pictures taken?”

He’d usually say no. He hated getting pictures taken of him, almost as much as he hated listening to recordings of his own voice. But things were different today, and he lets Tina smudge some face paint on his cheek in pink, blue, and white and drag him to the backdrop in front of the camera. The only complaint he has to offer, as the photographer counts down, is: “This is so fuckin’ cheesy.”

“Shut up. It’s gonna be great.”

“You sound like a mom.”

“Smile for the camera, son.”

He does. Or, he tries, pressed cheek-to-cheek against Tina. He’s pretty sure he blinks, but the photographer gives them a thumbs up and tells them it’ll be developed within the next hour, and to pick it up anytime after that. Tina stops him from wiping off the face paint. Her own cheek is smeared with a half-rounded, half-straight-edged shape with the pattern of the trans pride flag.

“It looks great, I swear.”

“Tina, you didn’t paint a dick or anything on my face, did you?” He says, jokingly.

“No, how dare you? I have _taste_.” She replies, a hand on her chest in mock affront. “I drew a rat.”

“You’re the actual worst.”

“Gavin, please don’t erase my Mona Lisa.”

“Fine, but only for you.” And he leaves it.

The streets were getting packed. More and more people were filing in, all varying ages, appearances, etcetera. Gavin gets offered pronoun pins by a passing vendor and nabs ‘he/him’ for himself and ‘she/her’ for Tina. Tina gets her hands on some little pride flags and sticks one behind his ear. “Cheesy,” He grumbles again, and she rolls her eyes and tells him where else he can stick it.

And then it’s just. Having fun. They climb a tree in a nearby park to get a better view of the drag show in the street square. They get handed some cheap noisemakers from someone (rainbow colored, as everything else is) and try to make the loudest sound in each other’s faces. Gavin grows a collection of pins on his shirt. Tina ties her sleeves up with little hairties that she’d bought in the pattern of the lesbian flag, and laments the fact that she is not buff enough (not yet, at least) to simply flex them off herself. Gavin pats her on the shoulder and assures her that one day, her dream of bench-pressing a beautiful girlfriend will be achieved.

It’s swelteringly hot. Between the denseness of the people and heat of the sun, Gavin can tell he’s sweating through the new t-shirt Tina gave him, and he’s glad that he had the foresight not to bind today.

“We should get a lemonade, or something,” He says to her, or nearly shouts, over the din. People were starting to yell and cheer. Must be a concert or something.

She nods back. “I think there was a booth over here,” and points past him towards a throng of people.

It’s not easy, but they start to edge their way through the crowd. It’s hard; no one’s really walking anywhere, and after a moment Gavin realizes that they aren’t cheering for anything at all. They’re angry, and the anger buzzes and makes his hackles raise, and suddenly he’s tensing up for a fight. He only catches snatches of what’s being said, but…

“Why do these assholes show up _every year,_ ” Gripes someone near him. And: “Same stupid church, too, like they don’t have anything better to do.”

Behind him, he feels Tina’s grip on his hand tighten. Something invisible constricts around his chest.

He gives one last blind push, through so many arms and torsos, and-

He stumbles out of people and into open air. There’s a makeshift platform in front of him, and a few banners being held up by people in tight white-collared shirts. A man, pink-faced and sweating in a black clergyman’s robe, stands on the platform and stares down at Gavin with a ruddy face that was contorted into disgust.

“ _You_ ,” He says, all contempt, and Gavin’s ears start to ring.

He can’t really make out the words the man is saying, but he can guess by the way they fly off his lips like venom, and it’s not like it matters in the end. The man on the platform looks nothing like his dad; he is short and heavyset and balding, and his dad is tall and wire-thin with dark, greasy hair. But in that instant, it doesn’t matter, because all Gavin can hear is his dad’s voice, bleeding with bitter loathing, and he’s paralyzed by it.

Somewhere, he’s aware of the people behind him, all staring and making sounds that Gavin can’t distinguish, not over the sound of his own blood in his ears. He had the foresight not to bind today, but an invisible band tightens like a noose around his chest, and he can’t breathe. People were looking, and he couldn’t breathe.

“-vin. Gavin. Gav!”

He’s being pulled, dragged away by a hand on his wrist. Tina. She pulls him away from the crowd. “Gav, come on,” She urges, leading him off, away from everyone else. “Take a breath, okay? It’s okay.”

He shakes his head. He tries to say something, but instead a sob just stutters out his throat. He hadn’t even realized he was crying.

“Hey, it’s alright. Nothing that asshole said meant anything, right?” She keeps talking. She’s produced a bottle of water from somewhere and is twisting the cap open, pressing it into his hand. “Drink some of that. Listen, that guy’s just some old middle-aged shitlord with a holier-than-thou personality complex. Nothing he said matters.”

Gavin nods, grabbing and hanging onto every word like a lifeline. He drinks the water; it’s cold, with dew on the surface. It’s good, and he sputters a bit when he tries to drink too fast, the liquid running down his chin in icy rivulets.

“It’s okay, You’re okay,” Tina repeats. “Take a breath, right? It’s okay.”

His head isn’t spinning so much anymore. His heart’s stopped feeling like it’s about to beat out of his chest. He takes a shuddering breath, and runs a hand down his face, feeling the tears that had leaked out without his notice and cringing. He must look pretty pathetic, crying his stupid eyes out, and he forces himself to take another deep breath past the sob that rattles in his ribs. Tina’s hand is still on his back, rubbing a soothing circle like he’s a baby that needs to burp.

“M’fine,” He sniffs, and he shrugs her hand off. “S’fine. Sorry.”

“Dude, don’t be sorry. It wasn’t your fault."

“I spazzed. All because some - _chauvinist_ _asshole_ \- decided to- to tell me some shit I’ve already heard.” The water bottle crinkles slightly in his tightening fist. “And I just- I froze up, like I was just- some little kid-”

“Gavin, you had a _panic attack._ ”

“Exactly. That’s just- ugh!” He groans, and sets down the bottle before he can crush it further. Tina is looking at him with something that he can’t read on her face, especially not behind her sunglasses. “It’s so fucking...fuck!”

“Gavin, that guy was a grown-ass man who decided to single you, a kid, out of everyone else, and he said-” She swallows. “He said a lot of fucked up shit. I would’ve reacted the same way.”

“No, you wouldn’t have. It was-I didn’t even hear what he said, I was just…I don’t know.”

The words don’t work, and he bites down in them and clenches his jaw tight. He swipes angrily once more at his face, hiding any stray tears that might’ve leaked out. His cheeks burn, and it’s not because of the summer heat anymore. The day’s ruined, and he’s ruined it. What was he even doing?

A hand finds its way onto his shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me about it now,” Tina says slowly. “If you don’t want to. But it’s getting pretty hot just sitting here.“

He knows what it looks like in the few times when Tina makes a plan, often with the intent to cheer him up. And this was probably one of those times. “Tina…” He sighs, but he plays along. “What are you suggesting?”

“Well, the lemonade stand _is_ right there, but...you know, there’s a bunch of religious dicks standing around it.”

“Yeah?”

“Alternatively; there’s a dollar store a few buildings down.”

“So?”

“Just saying, I’m pretty sure they’ve got water balloons on sale.”

The implication hits Gavin slow. But then he smiles, slowly, when he realizes what Tina is suggesting.

“That priest looks like he’s getting pretty hot too,” He notes out loud. When he turns to Tina again, he sees a smile on her face that could split the moon.

* * *

It takes a little bit of sweet talking to convince the landlord of the apartment building that they were just a pair of kids going to visit their mom’s aunt’s friend’s brother, and totally not planning to drop water balloons on the Asshole Priest that was preaching to deaf but irritated ears in front of the building. It takes a little more convincing that the person they were visiting wasn’t expecting them, and the visit was a surprise, so please don’t buzz anyone to confirm their identities, just let them onto the top floor. Tina’s pretty sure what they were doing was definitely a punishable crime, but the landlord was a geriatric and more interested in the book they had briefly distracted them from than actually paying attention to their spiel, so she doubted that the two of their faces would leave even a lingering memory an hour later.

The building was pretty old. Not dilapidated old, but old enough for the security camera to be hanging by skinny wires and chips of drywall to flaking off in the hall. They climb to the third and top floor, and shuffle open the window at the far end of the hall to reveal a rusting, wiry fire escape that Tina didn’t trust as far as she could throw. But it didn’t creak under their combined weights and didn’t betray them as they made their way to the roof, out of sight of anyone else at the fair.

Tina peeks over the edge of the roof; they were directly above the Asshole Priest, still monologuing at irritated passersby. Perfect position. Target spotted.

Gavin was already pulling out the water balloons. They’d filled them in the bathroom sink of a nearby corner store, and nestled them safely in Gavin’s backpack as they snuck their way to the building. He holds up a particularly fat, blue one, practically glistening in the sunlight. “Do you want the honors?”

She does. It would give her nothing but the greatest joy to lob a water balloon directly at the shiny, sunburnt bald spot of the biggest dickhead she ever had the good graces to meet. The Asshole Priest’s words were still bitter and ringing in her head - Gavin might not have heard it, but she had - and they were pretty unspeakable things. She remembered feeling sick as she wrenched Gavin away, and she hadn’t even been the words’ target.

She pushes the water balloon back at him. She hadn’t been the words’ target. She can take the second throw. “You do it.”

“You sure?”

“You’re the one he singled out. Go crazy, my guy.”

Gavin hesitates, then reaches into his bag and pulls out another one. This one violet and still dewy on the surface, and he shoves it into her hands. “Same time, right?”

She can’t help it; she smiles, and nods. “Right.”

They peer over the edge, lying on their stomachs. Both of them had planned not to aim for the head, because neither of them had passed physics well enough to know if throwing a water balloon from this height could be considered deadly, but that meant also having to wait for the Asshole Priest to hold still. The man couldn’t seem to stop pacing around his tiny wood-slat platform.

“On three?”

“Yeah.”

The Asshole Priest makes another round. Tina shuffles a little closer, leaning on her elbows.

“One,” She mutters.

“Two,” Gavin replies.

The Asshole Priest pauses. His head tilts up, just a little, in their direction.

“Three!”

The balloons hit their targets simultaneously, and Tina thinks that reflects something about Newton’s gravity law and what their physics teacher had tried to demonstrate with them once, but at the moment she doesn’t really care. The blue balloon explodes against his shoulder, and he staggers, even as the violet one bursts against his back. Soaking him entirely.

Tina never considered herself a sadistic person, but there was something incredibly satisfying in hearing the man yelp in shock. The onlookers were all laughing, and a few of them waved up at them, phones out.

Gavin waves at them, even as the Asshole Priest looks up and locks eyes with Tina through her sunglasses, face pulled with anger.

“Fuck, dude, we gotta go.”

“Shit, yeah. Hold on, the other balloons-”

They take Gavin’s backpack and empty it over the side, and the balloons splat against pavement, soaking the socks of a few clergymen and drawing out a few more surprised shouts. There are more cheers, but they don’t stay behind to look. The fire escape squeaks a little under their pounding feet as they run, taking the steps two at a time and then sprinting down the alleyway, listening for the sounds of anyone chasing after them.

But there are none, and Tina laughs, a little breathless and crazy. Gavin whoops from besides her, matching her step for step. They cut through the alleys and come out on the other side of the fair, and disappear into a nearby milling crowd, hands locked to keep from drifting apart. It’s a few moments before either of them have enough breath to talk again.

Gavin looks at her, and he’s smiling wide and a little wild, like he can’t believe what just happened and holy shit, did they just do that? “Holy shit.”

“Holy shit.”

“Holy _shit!!”_

They’re pressed shoulder-to-shoulder, and she can feel his elbow digging into her side and she knows that she’s dangerously close to stepping on his toes. She can feel him breathing heavily, can hear him laughing. She can hardly talk. All she can do is laugh right along with him, and she doesn’t mind it at all.

* * *

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Holy _shit!_

The face of the Asshole Priest was still stuck in his mind, mouth frozen wide in confusion and shock, shirt soaked through with cold water. A little bit of blue rubber from the balloon stuck to his ear.

He wheezes, heart hammering a mile a minute, and he’s not asthmatic unlike his cousin Eli but he’s pretty sure if he doesn’t take a pause from giggling to breathe properly, he’ll probably pass out. Tina keeps knocking into him like a comforting weight, or like they’re two bumper cars or two stray boats in the water, and she’s laughing too.

“Do you think-” She finally gasps out. “Do you think we’re gonna get caught?”

“No way.”

“Holy shit. Dude, I can’t feel my legs.”

“Me neither.”

They glance at each other, and collapse against each other in a fit of giggles. Gavin feels delirious with it, and even though it’s still sweltering he reaches out and pulls Tina into a one-armed hug. Around them, the people move and ebb like a big river, and he can hear the slightly muted sound of bass of the fair’s music.

“Thanks.” He mumbles against her shoulder. His heart might burst from his chest like the balloons they had thrown. “That was-thanks.”

She hugs him right back. Her hand squeezes his.

\--

They stay around people for nearly a half hour, if only to be wary about anyone who might try to report them for their stunt. They buy some tacos from a truck and wash them down with fresh-pressed orange juice. They wander, and watch a dance competition and a poetry recitation and a pretty intense race featuring teacup piglets. There’s a comfortable quiet between them that neither are really willing to break, locked arm and arm as they are.

By the time it’s time for them to go, they’re both exhausted. The fair was beginning to dry up, the people trickling out by groups. They still have time before their train comes, and Tina remembers that they still have to pick up their photos from the booth they had visited at the start. There’s a line in front, so they sit on a nearby bench as they wait for it to shorten.

Gavin kicks his tired feet against the ground and watches the little cloud of dust that follows. His legs were aching from walking all day, but he found he hardly cared. He’s happy, happier than he’s been in a long time.

Tina huffs and leans back next to him, her glasses slipping down her face as she stares up at the cloudless sky. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“You were right.” She turns slightly to look at him. “I’m glad we did this.”

He snorts. “Told you so.”

“Hush.”

“No.”

They’re quiet for a moment. The line isn’t any shorter yet. The blue sky was turning pink.

“Hey,” Tina says again. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Earlier, when, uh. When that Asshole Priest was bitching at you.” Gavin feels something in his gut sink immediately at her words. “You don’t have to answer, of course, but you said it didn’t have anything to do with what he said. And, like, I don’t need to know, of course, but I was just wondering-”

“It’s fine, Tina.” He rubs at the pins decorating the edge of his shirt, listening to them click against each other. “I...It’s kinda stupid.”

Tina doesn’t say anything, waiting for him. He scuffs his shoes a little more into the dirt. “I just...he looked like my dad. For a moment. Or he reminded me of my dad, and I panicked. That’s all.”

“...Oh.”

“It’s fine. I’m over it.”

“That’s not stupid at all. Your dad’s a prick.”

“Isn’t he?”

“He’s a gigantic prick. He can go fuck himself.”

“Ha.”

He kicks up another cloud. A thin trench follows the path of his foot in the dirt. There’s the click of Tina taking off her sunglasses besides him.

“We should probably start changing out of our gear,” She sighs. She’s already putting away the sunglasses, the pronoun pin, the little lesbian flags. Disappearing into pockets of an old canvas backpack and turning invisible. She pulls out some napkins and wipes at her face, and hands him one too. “You should probably wipe your face. You still got makeup on it.”

He reaches up and brushes his cheek, and his fingers come away stained with color. He accepts the napkin Tina passes him and scrubs, hard enough for the skin to sting afterwards, like a sunburn. The evidence of the mark is just a smear of paint on paper in his hand. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

By now, the line for the photo booth is short enough for them to jump in, and the same person who had taken their photo greets them pleasantly and shuffles through a big cardboard box for their picture. When they hand over the little polaroid, Gavin feels something warm in his chest.

“Is that a heart on our faces?” He asks, and Tina chuckles. They’re pressed cheek-to-cheek in the photo, both bearing one half of a heart. Done in pink, blue and white.

“You’re blinking.”

“Shut up. You’re wearing sunglasses.”

“And I look _bitching._ ”

“Teeny,” He says, and he has to try hard to keep his voice from trembling. “You are so goddamn cheesy.”

**Author's Note:**

> go check out [jazz's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jazzmckay/pseuds/karasgotagun) works! also join us on [discord](https://discord.gg/ykcsTQk) if you feel like it
> 
> anyways please dont actually sneak into apartment buildings to throw water balloons at homophobic people. ask the apartment building people politely to let you in so it's not liable against you if the cops get called
> 
> anyways tina and gavin and childhood bffs and trans yes both of them are trans no i will not be taking questions thanks for coming to this ted talk. platonic soulmates exist. i cried while writing this. i also cried while formatting this


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